Erica Anderson
Erica Anderson (エリカ・アンダーソン Erika) is the bar's ray of sunshine, bringing warm smiles and cold drinks to her customers. Erica is the waitress at the Stray Sheep. A friendly sort, she often joins in the conversations of her customers. She, Vincent Brooks, Jonathan Ariga, and Orlando Haddick all grew up together, and she always makes a point of stopping by their table and sharing the latest gossip. She's aware of Tobias Nebbins's crush on her, and she's more than a little amused by his puppy love. Personality Erica is, unofficially, one of the main features of the Stray Sheep, as Boss has said many customers come in just to see her. Boss himself has made several advances on her, which she has forcefully and loudly rejected. Erica is kind and caring, checking on Vincent's well-being to see if he's okay. She is incredibly flirtatious and mischievous, and delights in leading Toby on and spreading rumors regardless of how true they are. She used to be much closer to Vincent and her friends, but has since drifted away due to them all growing up, something she laments. During a conversation between Toby, Jonny, Orlando, Vincent and herself about who she'd be most likely to marry, she states in a clear-cut relationship, she'd pick Orlando, but she wouldn't marry him. She feels Jonny would treat her right, but she doesn't like the idea of being tied down to one guy. In the end, she picks Toby because of his enthusiasm and cuteness. Though not initially a fan of women's wrestling, she's gotten into it since the bar focuses on that for their bets. She's enamored with the idea of powerful women. History Erica, Jonny, Orlando, Katherine McBride and Vincent have all been friends since high school. During that time, she was hurt deeply in a relationship, and disappeared for a short time. Though everyone thought she had killed herself, in reality she was just staying at a friend's house until it blew over. In school, Erica's birth name was Eric. At some point in time, Erica underwent MTF surgery. ''Catherine'' Erica is the source of all the rumors circulating about "The Woman's Wrath" and routinely stops at Vincent's table to spread the latest information on it. Toby takes every opportunity to flirt with her, which she plays with constantly. Though she is actually interested in him, she's reluctant to actually begin a relationship due to their difference in ages. The rumors she starts about the witch in town get more and more outrageous, as she says the witch can't die and doesn't age. Then, she states the witch was a classmate of theirs, and went to the same school at the same time. She chides Vincent for not having a sense of romance in playing along. Later, she admits to Vincent that she herself is the witch, explaining that she added a bunch of stories from their youth to the rumors just for fun. On the night of Day 6, she actually does begin a sexual relationship with Toby after he asks her out several times. Because of this, she begins to have the Nightmares that everyone else is complaining about, as she is preventing Toby from being in a relationship that could result in children. Though her relationship with Vincent, Orlando and Jonny is platonic, she flirts briefly with Vincent, telling him she knows he sneaks a peek at her every so often. On Day 8, Erica seems to develop a very mild crush on Vincent, after his confrontation with Boss; she blushes and seems pleasantly startled at his sudden confidence. Unlike the rest of Vincent's friends, Erica gets to find out that Catherine wasn't an illusion of Vincent's, as well as the meaning of the nightmares. This happens when Boss admits having seen Catherine, knowing her business and accidentally revealing his identity and role in the trials. Erica only appears in the Katherine True Ending, where it is revealed that she was called 'Eric' during school, showing that she was assigned male at birth, making her a trans woman. Toby seems to regret sleeping with her because of this, though it isn't explicitly stated whether they are still together or not. Quotes * "Ugh, that's low, Vincent! Lowest of the low..." (to Vincent after she finds out he cheated on Katherine) * "Still, you're cheating? That's big news... Don't you care about Katherine? ...I hate to be so confrontational, but geez..." * "Sorry, but once that hole is punched, there's no refund!" (to Toby) The Trivia for Tonight..... *There are several other instances during the game that her transgender nature is addressed: **She expresses interest in joining a women's wrestling team, which Vincent claims would be impossible. She misunderstands and says that she's strong, but Vincent explains they wouldn't let her in in the first place. **She tells Vincent he needs to learn how a girl's heart works and how a woman is always hoping someone will come sweep them away. Vincent then comments that he'd be more convinced if a woman was telling him this. **She begins to have nightmares, which are exclusively given to men. **After discovering she was having nightmares, Toby comes to the conclusion that gender must not matter. Orlando then retorts with: "I'm not so sure..." **Jonny and Orlando both have extreme reactions whenever Toby professes his love for Erica, and especially once Toby loses his virginity to her. **On the 4th day, Jonny asks, "Hey, is Toby really into Erica?" Orlando replies, "Well, kids drool over girls like that." Jonny then says, "Well... but... it's Erica." **Vincent may say "Don't mess around, man" to Erica which is unusual. **Toby explains that sex with Erica was 'weird', though he can't quite say why, since it was his first time. As Toby proclaims it was big and doesn't mention himself really sets off Orlando as he switches subjects quickly. **Most of the time, everyone addresses her as "she", and she shows a mild spike of anger when Vincent makes a reference to her not being a woman. **In the Katherine True Ending, Toby finds out that her birth name was "Eric". **In relation to the previous statement, the game's credits, manual and Venus Mode Art Book lists Erica's name as Eric Anderson (Erica). **"Anderson" means "Son of Anders", which is derived from the Greek meaning "man" or "manly". This is likely another subtle nod to her original sex at birth. *Erica has been praised for being a step forward in LGBT representation and represents a minority demographic. She is a likable, kind and caring individual who happens to be transgender and has a sympathetic background where she was thought to have killed herself. She also passes, seems satisfied and happy with her result and being thought of as female, and she is also in her 30s (LGBT people are often told being LGBT is "just a phase" or they will "grow out of it" which can be very offensive). Many fans feel Erica feels very "humanized" with opinions and emotions, and are able to empathize with Erica. Erica is often a fan favorite, and the subject of fanart and cosplays. * Erica is also a controversial character, and has also been criticized for not revealing her status to Toby, which could be perceived as Erica being dishonest to Toby. Also, her being transgender revealed at the very end of the game could be seen as a "plot twist" or a "punchline" which the entire game has been building up for hours using hints, which may give someone the idea that being LGBT is a "joke" that isn't to be taken seriously, and that it is acceptable to use LGBT as the subject of jokes/punchlines/ridicule. The game also inexplicably deadnames Erica in the credits, manual and Venus Mode Art Book, treats her like a male by showing she has nightmares (which implies Erica is not a "real" woman according to the game's writers), and the Venus Mode Art Book callously claims her body type has "surprisingly broad shoulders" and says her sex is male (男性 dansei) instead of female (女性 josei). Also, nothing is done about Vincent's attitude towards Erica, similar to how nothing is done about Yosuke's homophobic attitude towards Kanji in Persona 4. As a result, some have accused the Atlus employees at P-Studio of being transphobic/homophobic and having problematic LGBT representation, or at least, being inconsiderate and insensitive of the way LGBT are portrayed in Catherine and Persona 3, 4 and 5. **Erica has also been a controversial character in the game's fandom. For example, this wiki article used to allow fan comments (which are now disabled). Many called Erica "he", claimed Erica is not a "real" woman, called Erica mentally ill or delusional, and her article has been vandalized by some editors who would change every instance of "she" to he". This shows the pervasive transphobic attitudes trans people have to put up with. *Erica's role as the "witch" possibly emerged from her sex reassignment surgery. **Erica's supposed death could be taken as the death of Eric the man, though the timing of both events is not known. *Erica bears a strong resemblance to a couple fast food mascots. She shares the red hair, yellow clothes and red stripes of Ronald McDonald, and the red hair of the mascot for the restaurant Wendy's. **It has been theorized that the colors red and yellow subconsciously make people hungry. This widespread belief may be part of Erica's design by Boss in order to boost popularity and sales, who also inserted subliminal messages in Rapunzel. *Haru Okumura of ''Persona 5'' can dress as Erica. *Makoto Niijima, a playable character in Persona 5, has hair resembling Erica's. Both also wear some sort of handband as a hair accessory (Makoto's braid is actually a headband as revealed in concept art). *Erica bears a strong resemblance to Paprika, the protagonist in the animated movie Paprika. The movie is based around the idea of entering one's sleep and dreams, and thus shares many themes with Catherine. Unused Dialogue *Erica is one of the few characters that references Catherine's name. She differentiates between them by saying "C or K Katherine." Gallery EricaCap1.png|Erica serving people at the bar. Pair.gif|"I've got a nice pair of heels I know how to use." EricHeels.png|Erica flirting with Toby. EricaSmiles.png|Erica talking about the Woman's Wrath curse. EricaCap2.png|"Well? Well? Come on, tell me about this girl!" EricaCap2.gif|"They say all the men who died were cheaters..." EricaCap3.png|"So they were cursed." EricaBossCap1.png|Erica and Boss. EricaVin1.png|Erica and Vincent talking. EricaVIn2.png|Erica asks Vincent if he's leaving. KatherineTrue1.png|Erica at Vincent and Katherine's wedding. KatherineTrue3.png|Erica at Vincent and Katherine's wedding. KatherineTrue4.png|Erica at Vincent and Katherine's wedding. AW8Wv5xCAAI-hHl.jpg|Scans from Venus Mode Art Book. AXBUV6ECAAAeov4.jpg|Scans from Venus Mode Art Book. EricaArt.png|Concept art. EricaVincentNovel.png|Erica and Vincent about to see the truth of Boss. Category:Characters